A lesson in LEAD
The minutes and the sheets are ours, made up to show what a plan could look like. The college's lesson plan example has the activities but no minutes.
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Launch: 5 minutes
Here is one 60 minute renewable energy lesson, planned in , one card for each part. Launch is the first five minutes. The pictures are on the screen as learners arrive, so they start without you. Say: “Sort these before I say anything.” Watch what they put where. That is what they already know.
The handout
Starter: renewable or not?
Six pictures on the screen: wind turbines, a coal power station, solar panels, a gas boiler, a hydroelectric dam, an oil rig.
- Sort them into two groups: renewable and not renewable.
- Stretch: one picture has been left out. Which is missing?
- You ask three learners: what makes a source renewable?
Your jobPlan each part of the lesson. Pick what counts.
Launch, 5 minutes · turn 1 of 4
The handout
Renewable energy: the plan so far
1. Recall and describe renewable sources of energy.
2. Explain how electricity is produced from them.
3. Evaluate the best source for a given scenario.
- Nothing planned yet.
Your lessonLearners are arriving. The new learning starts in five minutes.
What do you plan?
Pick one.
One 60 minute lesson, four parts, the minutes and the words at each change.
Why this works in your room
Each part of the lesson has a job, so nothing is there to fill time.
For your learners: They start with a reason to care, are shown how, try it on something real, and finish by showing what they can do.
For you: You can see which part is missing from a plan before you teach it, and you share one structure with your colleagues.
Launch
5 minutes
Six pictures on screen: renewable or not?
“Sort these before I say anything.”
Establish
20 minutes
Marketplace: four stations, one source each.
“One station each, five minutes, then move on when I call it.”
Apply
25 minutes
The Isle of Skye, in groups of three.
“Now use it. I am not telling you the answer.”
Demonstrate
10 minutes
Each group names a source and gives two reasons.
“One minute each. One strong thing, one to improve.”
The look-alikes
They are not the part
Register then outcomes. Twenty minutes of slides.
More of the same questions. “Any questions?”
Next step
For your own lesson
Write your next lesson as four parts, with the minutes beside each.
Elsewhere in Bradford ThreadWorks
Big 4Copilot: writing detailed prompts that say who it is for and exactly what you want.Open Big 4 (opens in a new tab)
Lesson WeaverBuild a LEAD lesson plan, or start from the blank LEAD template.Open Lesson Weaver (opens in a new tab)
WalkThrusPlanning and sequencing a unit, so each LEAD lesson builds on the last.Open WalkThrus (opens in a new tab)
Prompts to paste into Copilot
Copilot is useful for the pieces inside a part. Change what is in brackets.
A Launch that shows what they know
I teach [subject] to [level] learners. Suggest six pictures for a five minute starter on [topic] that learners sort into two groups, and one more picture I could leave out so they have to notice it is missing. Say what each picture shows about what they already know.
An Apply scenario
Write a scenario of about 60 words for [level] learners studying [topic]. They must recommend one of four options and give two reasons, using what they learned in the lesson. Add one stretch question for higher learners.
The college's structure
Launch, Establish, Apply, Demonstrate is how lessons are planned at Bradford College. Each part has a job: a purposeful start, the new learning, using it on something harder, and showing what has been learned.
Bradford College LEAD CPD presentations, and the LEAD lesson plan example
The evidence behind the order
The teachers whose learners achieve most start by reviewing earlier learning, present new material in small steps, give plenty of practice, and check what every learner has understood.
Rosenshine, Principles of Instruction, 2012 (opens in a new tab)How sure is this?
Moderately. The order matches what Rosenshine found. LEAD itself is the college's own model and has not been tested as a named model. The minutes and sheets here are ours, not the college's.
No source claimed